A dryer fabric of this kind is disclosed in EP 0 609 664 A1. It comprises a single-ply fabric having round transverse threads that can also be configured as hollow monofilaments, and having two longitudinal thread systems, the longitudinal threads being embodied as flat monofilaments. One of the longitudinal thread systems extends predominantly on the paper side, each two adjacent longitudinal threads forming a longitudinal thread pair that engages at the same height with the transverse threads. With the second longitudinal thread system, one longitudinal thread runs in each case below a longitudinal thread pair.
If dryer fabrics such as those evident from EP 0 609 664 A1 are woven flat, their length is finite, so that after installation into the paper machine their ends must be joined together. EP 0 609 664 A1 contains nothing concerning the manner in which this occurs with the dryer fabric disclosed therein.
It is known in the existing art to join the ends of paper machine fabrics using a so-called inserted wire seam. For this purpose, eye-forming loops are configured at the ends and are made to overlap when the edges are fitted together, so that the eyes of the loops of the two ends align and consequently form a passage into which an inserted wire can be slid. This inserted wire couples the eyes of the two ends, and thus makes the paper machine clothing endless.
In many cases the longitudinal threads of the paper machine fabrics are utilized to form the loops, by the fact that some of the longitudinal threads are guided out beyond the last transverse threads and woven back into the fabric forming an eye, while others of the longitudinal threads are woven back in directly, i.e. without forming an eye (cf. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,089,324, 4,438,789). With the fabrics disclosed in these documents, the weaving back is accomplished in such a way that the woven-back portion of the respective longitudinal thread is engaged next to the latter, and the profile of this portion does not deviate from that of the longitudinal thread in question. In the paper machine fabric described in EP 0 532 510 B1, the woven-back portion is introduced back into the fabric below the relevant longitudinal thread so that the loops are not subject to twisting.
It is the object of the invention to configure the ends of a paper machine clothing of the kind cited initially, for the purpose of creating an inserted-wire seam, in such a way that the weave pattern is consistent, in particular on the paper side, over the entire length of the paper machine clothing .